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Time to open the fifth door on the Calendar. I reckon we might need to batter this one down with a solid attack from our infantry, backed up with archers.
That’s right, it’sAge Of Empires 4
Age of Empires IV - Gameplay TrailerWatch on YouTube
Age of Empires IV - Gameplay Trailer
So, you’re thinking, it’s a remake, right? Seems par for the course in strategy game development, after all. Just as in the movie business, it’s a rare studio these days that risks an adventure into fresh IP, when some beloved but mouldering carcass can be reanimated instead. Indeed, many saw AoE4 as just such a feat of necromancy, praising it as a solid old-school RTS, but sighing a bit at Relic’s reluctance to innovate on the classicAgefeature set.
But as far as I’m concerned, Age Of Empires 4 ain’t a remake. It’s not even a sequel, really. It’s a bloody exorcism, is what it is.
It was the best time I have ever had with a video game. It was the worst time I have ever had with a video game. I spent far longer with AoE2 than I ever did in the totality of its original lifespan. Why was it such an intense experience? Well, I suppose I was stuck in my house during a plague, and slowly losing my mind. But beyond that, there was just something really potentlyweirdabout applying a brain attuned to modern strategy games, to a game from the 1990s.
Age Of Empires 4 is, when all is said and done, a solid old-school RTS. And from where I’m standing, that’s a fucking miracle. Bravo.
